


Sentinel

by Poetry



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate
Genre: Book 33: The Illusion, Canon Compliant, Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-26
Updated: 2012-12-26
Packaged: 2017-11-22 12:43:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/609932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poetry/pseuds/Poetry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aximili cannot stand by and watch his nephew suffer. A coda to #33: The Illusion.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sentinel

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gatsbyparty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gatsbyparty/gifts).



Tobias has avoided Aximili since his torture at the Sub-visser's hands.

This does not surprise Aximili, even as it hurts him more deeply than he would ever admit. It is Tobias' natural reaction, in the face of terrible events, to retreat into himself. Aximili also thinks that he might be ashamed at how broken he has become.

Finally, the second night after, Aximili goes to Tobias' tree, where he knows he will find his _shorm_ awake despite the late hour. He stands beneath the tree and waits for acknowledgment. 

«What are you doing here, Ax?» Tobias says wearily. 

«To offer my support in any form you might accept it,» Aximili says. 

«There's nothing you can do.»

«There must be. I cannot stand by and watch you suffer as you have, Tobias. Let me do this as penance for not coming to your rescue sooner.»

«Look, Ax, I get how you feel. And if there was something you could do, I'd let you,» Tobias says. He sounds impossibly old. «I just – I feel like something's after me. When I try to sleep. Like something's going to come and trap me in a cage. But it doesn't matter. It's all in my head.»

«That it is in your head does not mean it is of no importance,» Aximili says. He shifts into a warrior's watchful stance, his tail poised high over his head, his stalk eyes scanning in every direction. «And it does not mean I cannot guard against it.»

«You're gonna stand guard against something in my imagination?»

«The attackers are in your imagination, but your fear is real. If nothing else, perhaps my presence can guard against that.»

There is a long silence. Then, «Thanks, man. No one ever – » Another silence. «Thank you.»

Aximili understands. He is perhaps only a little older than Tobias. But Aximili's role, as uncle, is to be his guardian – as his human uncle and aunt never were. «Sleep, nephew,» he says. «Or try as best you can. I will be your sentinel.»


End file.
